Apparatus for manipulating data on a byte basis



12 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. W. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL.

TTORNFY APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS Filed DSC. 30. 1950 Jan. 4, 1966 om .mdm mm m H IIIIIIIII I||\|NN|I|| N N n N N N @Mmmm/. I N@ Smm @ma m NN NE NE ELE NE 2.. w mwwmm W roi KME Il Mamma A Mmmm NN N @E ASM l NN dm R N2 :img L M@ w E :N NNNN N: NN Mmm H n M mw @C m @E N lillwlll|| l||| woo N N @mm un. \N N m5 AJ 1 NNN RG zu@ n zu@ zou 5 \8 :we 12N zw@ zum?. E mom omo n omo NN E N xm m5 NN NRE NN Imm m3 .52. NN 52. I |..||||I IIL .l1 rl ill Ez N E:

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Jan. 4, 1966 Filed Deo.

J. W. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS 12 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

Fig.4o Figf4b Fig.4c Fig.4d

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA oN A BYTE BAsIs Filed DSG. 30, 1960 Jan. 4, 1966 1. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 12 Sheets-Sheet 3 @uur Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS Filed DSG. 30, 1960 12 Sheet s-Sheet 4 APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA 0N A BYTE BASIS Filed Dec. 30. 1960 Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 12 Sheets-Sheet 5 A E E I ..E ...AA Ah. O O A A o o A @T2 o A @E A Km2 mi w we n o g om v @CNA v @Nw m N @NN N# o A w A w A w A w A 0 A 0 A A 1 A A. umm mmm @ma @um wim 2K w mim m mi@ :A wtf@ E A @5 mo La mo mo LA; Ao E: L a L X5 l a L@ A w A @e w A o Le w o um M L2 A2 M 4 @E N m @AAA A E, A .f A o t A ,N @AAA m @A m K i Ev A -..Vl Ll- -Irl -|I- APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA 0N A BYTE BAsIs Filed DGO. 30. 1960 Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAI.

12 Sheets-Sheet 6 .l IIIIJ m ...u ou Si Ouh: rllnllllll I i I I I I I I I l Ilflll lllll'llll- APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA oN A BYTE BASIS Filed Dec, :50. 1960 Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR., ETAL 12 Sheets-Sheet 7 L i. y q 2@ i Lm nl w .T e w al w l H A Il Q *i O 0 All w n n- E w N55 2mg T d N@ lw Fl i QE@ N 2.x A1 w al w w Al w nim E n ..1 m .91 w w 4i o L Ni l 2\ k o 4l o *I 1 Il: No w o T 1 Al o I w u N w .I l L ILllIel-llllll I I l L I Se O .l. O *l 0 O o L L w w wA o Ai w A1 w Ai w c N N w n mv l 0 I l O .g N w 2m Si@ 82m L mv I O I Q 0 En. w o o M Q knomf \no-|vw noh w Il w l| w li 0 u v m o @ai im i l O l?! O I *l O Si @si ||.|l.l nm .0E

Jan. 4, 1966 x. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS 12 Sheets-Sheet B Filed Dec. 30. 1960 E V w m mw w w m fir@ n v w w nog N ||||.l||||||l||.||||l|||l||||lll|||l|ll|||| IJ I N EI Q L E L E |..-||l.... Wl||||||l ..||lvl||.l||| ,IL N mo mo z mo mo mo mo N u l L f .f f I\ w w w o u w 1 i 1 4 H l0 w l nTOT @mu m@ 72% mvo@ 102A To@ Mouw o w w w w w w u 4 1 4 H I O c m 1 0 f5 x.. ii i! o: mb: -27 zo mo mo mo @o mo i: m @E Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS Filed DeG- 30. 1960 12 Sheets-Sheet 9 Jan. 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS Filed Dec. 30. 1960 12 Sheets-Sheet 10 FIG. 7b

Jan 4, 1966 J. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA 0N A BYTE BASIS Filed Dec. 30. 1960 FIG. 8 9 10 1 l l l P MODIFIER DECODER 12 Sheets-Sheet 11 43 42cm) 438) 458/ 438; 0 4581 4 Bio 2 4,1458 G 44o G G G G G `I G G G G G G G f G (4443 434J 424413) OR y 0R 0R 0R on 0R 0R 442 Jan. 4, 1966 1. w. DELMEGE, JR.. ETAL 3,228,005

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING DATA ON A BYTE BASIS Filed Dec. 30. 1960 12 Sheets-Sheet 12 United States Patent O 3,228,005 APPARATUS FUR MANIPULATING DATA N A BYTE BASIS James W. Delmege, Jr., and Charles R. Hollenbach, Saugerties, N.Y., .lohn L. Ellsworth, deceased, late of Kingston, N.Y., by Charlotte E. McCullough, administratrix, Southboro, Mass., assignors to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 79,928 29 Claims. (Cl. 340-1725) This invention relates to digital computers and similar types of machines useful for computation. data processing and related functions and more particularly to improved data manipulation apparatus useful in such machines.

Many digital computers are designed to handle data words of substantial length both to provide sufficient data handling capabilities and to provide adequate flexibility of operations in response to the instructions commensurate with the design and application of the machine. However in such machines data items handled are often only a fraction of the total available space in a word and therefore it is unduly wasteful of the available space in the memory to store a single such item in individual word areas. Typical of such items are constants, frequently used both in data processing and in computation, which may include a sign value. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the data Word length is fortyeight bits whereas constants that nd frequent use are Six bits or less in length. These short data items (six bits) are herein termed bytes. In addition to advantages of more etlcient storage bytes of this size nd use in many data manipulation operations including convert operations which involve translating to or from binary coded Hollerith (BCD) for example.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for rapidly manipulating data items on a byte basis for etlicient and ilexible operations in a digital computer arithmetic element.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus for enabling fractional words to be stored in groups, for example in a single word in memory, and to be easily and rapidly manipulated in response to instruction tags so as to be available for proper use in the arithmetic element of a computer.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved data manipulation apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved digital computer arithmetic element in which data items may be selectively cycled in a tlexible manner during transfers between the several registers in the arithmetic element.

A further object is to provide an improved digital computer arithmetic element which is capable of performing data manipulations in Twin Mode with versatility.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an integrated data translation system in which selected data portions may be rapidly and accurately manipulated in an optional and selective manner in high speed digital computers such that the overall speed of the digital cornputer system is not reduced.

A further object of the invention is to provide data manipulation circuitry capable of replacing or modifying speciiied bytes in a data word in response to a single instruction.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is incorporated in a computer which has a 2.496 microsecond machine cycle and handles instruction and data words, each being forty-eight bits in length (plus two parity bits). The Arithmetic Element of this computer is arranged so Cir ice

that selected portions of data words can be manipulated or configured on a byte (six bit) basis. The bytes in each data word are loaded directly into a first register in the Arithmetic Element and simultaneously may be cycled for positioning as desired in a second register in accordance with information tags associated with the instruction. The apparatus also includes the facility to mask or inhibit loading of certain of these bytes into the second register in accordance with information associated with the instruction. Further, provision is made for adjusting the word as configured in the Arithmetic Element in accordance with the sign of the active (unmasked) dat-.r bytes in response to instruction tag information. In addition replacement or modification of specic bytes in the data word in response to single instructions is enabled by the apparatus of the invnetion. Complete checking circuitry is also provided to supervise these operations.

The Arithmetic Element of the preferred embodiment of the invention incorporates a so-called Exchange Register at the input to the Arithmetic Element into which the data word is loaded in the form in which it was transferred. Simultaneously the data bit values are applied to a channeling or configuration matrix which is condilioned typically in accordance with instruction tag information. This matrix is a two level arrangement which enables further flexibility in certain of the mode operations of the Arithmetic Element. When the data bits have passed through this matrix they have been cycled, on a byte basis, and in that form they are applied through input gates to the A Register. The cycled bytes are loaded into that Register in accordance with activity modifier bits of the instruction which determine which of the cycled bytes are to be loaded into the A Register'. Thus, specific bytes of six bits each are positioned as desired in the forty-eight bit A Register of the Arithmetic indication that sign mformation has srgnllicance rs provided by an instruction word tag. The circuitry also enables a selected byte or bytes to be cycled to an appropriale location in the A Register, for an arithmetic operation, and after that operation is performed to be replaced in their original location in the data word, all in response to a single instruction. In addition to the data manipulation circuitry the preferred embodiment also includes circuitry for Checking these data manipulation operations. It will be seen as the following detailed dcscription of the preferred embodiment of the invention progresses that the invention provides a novel and improved data word channeling apparatus and checking circuitry particularly adapted for use in the Arithmetic Element of a digital computer. In addition, certain other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the computer apparatus which incorporates the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic layout of an instruction word of the type used in the computer shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic layout of a data word illustrating the arrangement of bytes;

FIG. 4 illustrates the arrangement of FIGS. 4a-d which show a generalized logical block diagram of the configuration control circuitry of the invention land associated registers;

FIG. 5 is a logical block diagram of a portion of the Exchange Registers, the Configuration Gates, Displacement Control tiip-iiops and associated checking circuitry;

FIG. 6 is a logical block diagram of one byte of the A Register and associated transfer control and checking circuitries;

FIG. 7 is a logical block diagram of the A modifier revision circuitry;

FIG. 8 is a logical block diagram of the P modifier decoder and associated circuitry; and

FIG. 9 is a logical block diagram of the activity flipilops associated with right half words and associated SDT error checking circuitry.

In the figures of the drawings a conventional filled-in arrowhead is employed on lines to indicate (1) a circuit connection, (2) energization with a pulse and (3) the direction of pulse travel. A diamond-shaped arrowhead indicates (1) a circuit connection, (2) energization with a D C. level, and (3) the direction of application of that level. Boldfacc characters appearing within a block identify the common name of the circuit represented, that is, FF designates a flip-Hop, G a gate circuit, OR a logical OR circuit, a logical NOT AND circuit, P a parity check circuit, etc. A variety of circuits suitable for the performance of each of these functions is known in the art. However, specific examples of suitable components are disclosed in the copending application S.N. 824,119 tiled in the name of Carroll A.

Andrews et al. on June 30, 1959 and entitled Magnetic Core Transfer Matrix (IBM Docket 13075). The basic arrangement of computer logic is similar to that of the computer system disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,914,248, issued to H. D. Ross et al. on November 24, 1959.

The computer system in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is employed is shown in FG. l in general block form. That computer utilizes a plurality of Memory elements, three of which l0, 12, 14 are shown. Associated with each memory element is a Memory Address Register and a Memory Buffer Register (not shown). There is also provided a memory read-in bus 16 and a memory read-out and transfer bus 1S. The computer system is designed to permit overlapped or concurrent processing of two instructions and thus is arranged so that two memories may be utilized by the computer at the same time. The data word for one instruction may be withdrawn from one Memory in accordance with information Stored in the Central Address Register (CAR) 2t) (in the Program Control Element 22) at the same time that the next instruction Word is read out of another Memory in accordance with the information from the Program Counter (PC) 24. In normal overlap operation a data word is transferred to the Arithmetic Element 26 while portions of an instruction word are substantially simultaneously transferred in skew fashion to the First Instruction Register 28 in the Instruction Control Element 30 and to registers in the Program Control Element 22. The Instruction Control Element is shown in simplified form as including First and Second Instruction Registers 28, 32. Associated with these registers are Decoders 34, 36, Command Generators 33, 4t) and a Timing Pulse Distributor 42 (driven by Oscillator 44) by means of which are generated control signals so that appropriate commands may be channeled throughout the entire computer to execute each instruction. In this computer sixteen timing pulses spaced at intervals of one hundred fifty-six millimicroseconds are generated during each machine cycle. While the instruction is in first level decoding (in Instruction Register 28) in general the necessary control circuitries are set up and requisite address modification operations are performed in the Program Control Element. The operand is normally transferred from the First Instruction Register 28 to the Second Instruction Register 32 at the end of the first machine cycle so that those commands necessary for the execution of an instruction (which typically involves the manipulation of data in the Arithmetic Element) may be generated. Additional information on the Instruction Control Element (which is shown in simplified form here) and on the overlapped mode of operation of this type may be obtained by reference to the copending application, S.N. 823,988 (IBM Docket 13076) filed in the name of J. D. Newton on June 30, 1959, and entitled Data Processing Machine which discloses a prototype system in that instruction and data word length in that system is twenty bits plus a parity bit. In the Program Control Element 22 the address portion of the instruction as loaded into thc Central Address Buffer Register 46 may be modified with the contents of an Index Register' 48 through use of Adder 50 and loaded into Central Address Register 20. In addition, the modification of the contents of internal storage registers are performed and the general control of the sequence of instructions is supervised by this element. Additional information on the details and operation of this element (which is shown here in simplified form) may be obtained with reference to the copending application IBM Docket 13124 tiled in the name of R. J. Pulver, Jr. on June 3i), 1960, Serial No. 39,879, entitled Program Control Element.

The Arithmetic Element is used, among other things, for computations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, for comparison and modification of selected information within a specied memory word, and for the shifting, cycling and normalizing of data words contained therein. Each of these operations is accomplished by sequenced commands generated by and channeled from the Instruction Control Element 3?. The Arithmetic Element 26 is essentially composed of two substantially identical sections, each of which contains a twenty-four bit Exchange Register 52, and corresponding A Registers 54, Accumulator Registers 56, B Registers 5S, and Adder Circuitries 60 and miscellaneous storage, comparison and checking circuitries. In accordance with instruction tag bits, data words may be loaded into this Arithmetic Element for processing on a full word basis, on a half word basis (either left or right half word) in Dual mode or in Twin mode. As indicated in FIG. 1 input data can be transferred into the Arithmetic Element from the memory bus 18 and from the Program Control Element 22. Each incoming data word is applied through OR circuits 62 to the Exchange Register 52 and simultaneously through Contiguration Gates 64 which are under the supervision of the Configuration Control Element 66 to the A Registers 54, Information supplied to the Configuration Control Element from the Instruction Control Element enables the cycling or shifting on a byte (six bits) basis, of the word loaded into the Exchange Registers and being simultaneously transferred to the A Registers. Also incorporated in the Arithmetic Element and shown in FIG. 1 are Comparison Gates 68, C (check) Registers 70, an Auxiliary Logic Register 72, and OR transfer circuits 74.

A layout of a typical instruction word, which, inter alla, controls transfer of data through the Configuration Gates 64 to the A Register 54 is shown in FIG. 2. The instruction word is a forty-eight bit word (bits S and 1 47) plus a parity bit (not indicated) associated with each twenty-four bit half word. Bits S- are the operand portion, bit 8 is the Real Data tag (R), bits 9-11 are the Byte Displacement (P) modifier, bits 12-14 are the Mode (M) modilier, bit 15 is a Signed Data Tag (T), bits 16-23 are the Byte Activity (A) modifier, and bits 24- 47 are the address portion of the instruction. Bits S-23 are loaded into the Instruction Control Element 30 and bits 24-4-7 are loaded into the Program Control Element 22. The seven bits of the operand are decoded and set up circuitry in the Command Generators which enables the generation of commands in accordance with timing pulses from the Timing Pulse Distributor for the execution of the instruction. The Read Data Tag bit 8 is a control bit which, when ONE, enables the address portion of the instruction (bits 24-47) to be transferred directly to the Arithmetic Element 26 from the Central Address Register 20 (over line 76) for processing in Dual mode, instead of specifying the address of the data in memory that is to be processed in accordance with the instruction as is the conventional case. Bits 9-11 are the Byte Displacement modifier and specify the number of byte positions that the data word loaded into the Arithmetic Element is to be shifted to the right by the Configuration Control circuitry. The data word arrangement illustrating the byte configuration is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in that figure the forty-eight bit data word has eight bytes (-7) of six bits each. The word is transferred into the Arithmetic Element in two half word portions and associated with each half word is a parity bit. This Word is transferred through the OR circuits 62 and loaded directly into the Exchange Registers S2. At the same time it is applied to the Configuration Gates 64 and information supplied through the Configuration Control 66 as conditioned in accordance with the Byte Displacement (P) modifier (bits 9-11) determines the number of byte positions that the word is to be cycled to the right for loading into the A Register 54. ff the P modifier was zero (000) the byte configuration in the A Register would be the same as in the Exchange Register while if the P modifier was seven (lll) the word in the A Register would be effectively cycled one byte to the left with respect to the word in the Exchange Register with byte 0 being shifted to the byte 7 location. The M modifier (bits 12-14) is the mode modifier and controls whether the data word is to be processed in full mode (000); left mode (001) in which an instruction operation is executed in the left half of the arithmetic element only; right mode (tllO) in which instruction operation occurs in the right half only; dual mode (011) which allows each half word to be treated independently with operations occuring simultaneously in both halves of the Arithmetic Elements; and twin mode (100) which allows the left half of the data word to be acted upon in both halves of the Arithmetic Element simultaneously and independently. The T modifier (bit l) is the Signed Data tag which provides means for setting all the bits of each inactive byte of the configured word in the A Register to ones in accordance with the selected mode where that tag is active and the sign bit of each most significant byte is negative. Bits 16-23 are the activity modifier and specify which of the displaced bytes of configured word are to take an active part in the arithmetic operation. Bit 16 refers to byte 0, bit 17 refers to byte 1 and so forth. The corresponding byte in the A Register is active if the activity bit is 0 and it is inactive if the activity bit is 1. When inactive all the bits in that byte remain set in the ZERO state. While the byte configuration of the data word is illustrated in FIG. 3 as two half words each consisting of a sign bit S and 23 data bits it will be understood that the operand may be a full word consisting of a single sign bit S and 47 data bits. These words are processed in the Arithmetic Element with negative numbers indicated in ls complement form. The sign bit is ZERO if the number is positive and ONE if the number is negative.

A more detailed logical block diagram of the Configuration Control circuitry and the associated nip-flops of the Exchange Register and the A Register is shown in FIG. 4. As indicated above the data word transferred to the Arithmetic Element is applied over lines 80-87 simultaneously to the flip-flop blocks 90--97 of the Exchange Register 52 and to the Configuration Gates 64. In FIG. 4 each set of byte flip-flops is indicated by a single block 90-97. It will be understood that in each block there are six data flip-flops. Similar symbols are utilized for other logic elements shown in FIG. 4. In these byte groups the last digit of the associated reference numeral is the byte number. Thus Exchange Register flipfiops are the byte 0 flip-flops, fiip-fiops 91 byte l, etc.

The Configuration Gates 64 are conditioned by sets of Displacement Control flip-flops 100, 102, 104 and 106. A set of these flip-flops is associated with each pair of bytes and the corresponding flip-flops in each set normally are placed in the same state in respons-e to signals from the Instruction Control Element in accordance with the P modifier during first level decoding of the instruction. Byte displacement can be controlled other than by the P modifier however. The Displacement Control flip-flops condition Configuration Gates which are connected to provide a displacement of zero or four bytes; the Displacement Control fiip-fiops 102 are connected to gates which provide a displacement of one or five bytes; the Displacement Control flip-flops 104 provide a displacement of two or six bytes; and the Displacement Control flip-flops 106 provide a displacement of three or seven bytes.

The outputs of the Configuration Gates 64 are applied through OR circuits 110-117 to the input gat-es 1Z0-127 and -137 associated with the A Register flip-flops -147. For example, byte 0 data is applied on lines 80 and if flip-flop 100 is set a conditioning level is applied to the upper gates 64-10 so that the signals applied on lines 80 are passed through OR circuits 110 to sample the gates 120 and the gates 134. Similarly if flip-flop 104 has been set gates 64-30 would be conditioned and the signals applied -on lines S0 would be passed through OR circuits 112 to sample gates 122 and 1364 Controlling the input to the A Register flip-flops 140- 147 are NOT AND circuits 150-157 which have output levels that condition gate 120-127 and NOT AND crcuits -167 which have output levels that condition gates 130-137. The NOT AND circuits 150-153 have a first input that is supplied from a ZERO displacement flipfiop while the NOT AND circuits 160-163 have a first input from the FOUR displacement fiip-fiop 172, the NOT AND circuits 154-157 have a first input from the ZERO displacement flip-flop 174 and the NOT AND circuits 164-167 have a first input from the FOUR displacement flip-flop 176. Thus there are two effective levels of displacement control, the first supplied by flip-flops 100, 102, 104 and 106; and the second by flip-flops 170, 172, 174 and 176. Second inputs to the NOT AND circuits are supplied from the activity flip-flops -187 which are normally controlled by signals from the Instruction Control Element in accordance with the A modifier values. Thus if byte O is active, as indicated by bit 16 of the A modifier being ZERO, flip-flop 180 applies a positive level to the NOT AND circuits 150 and 160. Assuming that first level displacement flip-flop 100 is set and the ZERO displacement flip-flop 170 is set gates 120 are conditioned as NOT AND circuit 150 has a condittoning output (both inputs being up) and data on lines 80 is transferred through gates 64-10 and OR circuit 110 into byte 0 flip-flops 140 of the A Register. However if the FOUR displacement Hip-Hops 172 and 176 had been set gates 120 would not have been conditioned but gates 134 would be conditioned and (assuming activity flip-flop 184 was cleared indicating activity) the data transferred over `line 80 would be displaced four bytes to the right and loaded into the A Register byte 4 fiip-fiops 144.

In another example of configuration assume the byte displacement value is five (P modifier 101) and the entire A Register is active (A modtier all ZEROS). In this case the displacement flip-flops 102, 172 and 176 will be set and all the activity flip-flops 180-187 will be cleared. The data byte transferred over lines 81, for example, will be passed through gates 64-21 and OR circuits 112 to sample gates 122 and 136. As flip-flop 170 is not sct the NOT AND circuit 152 does not provide a conditioning level for gates 122 but flip-flop 176 being set enables NOT AND circuit 166 to provide a conditioning level 7 so that gates 136 are conditioned and the data byte from lines 81 is loaded into byte 6 (Hip-flops 146) of the A Register.

While normally `both ZERO displacement flip-Hops 170, 174 or `both FOUR displacement flip-flops 172, 176 are set, the circuitry enables configuration and twinning at the same time `by setting either ipflops 170 and 176 or flip-llops 172 and 174. In this manner the same displaced hall" word is loaded into both halves of the A Register.

For example, the signals from OR circuits 112 are applied to gates 122 and 136. If the ZERO displacement flip-flop 170 and the FOUR displacement flip-flop 176 are set both gates are conditioned (assuming corresponding byte activity) and the b yte transferred through OR circuits 112 is simultaneously loaded into A Register bytes 2 and 6. For twin mode, it is normal that each half word has the same byte activity specified by the A modifier. This is not required however if a True Twin condition is not desired and thereby the apparatus affords the programmer additional flexibility. In other words an instruction may specify' twin mode and different byte activity for the two half words and thus two distinct values` may `be loaded into the two portions of the A Register and simultaneously manipulated in accordance with the` instruction. It will thus be seen that vthis configuration and entry gate arrangement provides a powerful tool for the programmer.

The Signed Data control flip-Hops 190-197 are also shown in FIG. 4. When a Signed Data (SDT) operation is specified (instruction bit 15 is ONE) the activity flip-Flops 1.8()187 are serially sensed on a full word or half word basis depending on the setting of the mode moditier and each leftmost active byte gates the sampling pulse to set the associated SDT ilip-tlop 190-197. A set SDT` i'lip-iiop applies a conditioning level to the associated gates 200-207 respectively. This `operation is set up `prior to the transfer of data into the Arithmetic Element. Preference is accorded the ysign bit of each byte (the data word being applied tothe configuration circuitry in skew fashion from memory rather than passing through a Memory Butler Register) and it is applied over lines 210-217 to sample gates 201]207. If the sign bit is ONE (indicating negative sign value of the byte) and the sampled gate is conditioned by the SDT flip-flop output level the pulse is passed to sample all of the gates 220-227. These gates are arranged to be conditioned by ONE levels from the activity ilip-llops which indicate that the associated byte is inactive. Thus, if on a full Word basis the first detected active `byte was byte 1 SDT flipd'lop 191 would he set anti a conditioning level applied to gate 201. It the sign bit of `the data byte transferred into byte 1 oi the A Register was ONE (negative) a pulse applied to gate 201 over line 211 would be passed by that gate and would sample all the gates 220-227- As gate 220 is conditioned (byte 0 inactivity `being indicated by Hip-Hop 180) the sampling pulse is passed to cliectively complement all the data llip-tlops 140 in A Register byte 0 from the ZERO state to the ONE state by applying the pulse to the ONE inputs. A similar operation occurs at all the other inactive bytes. This operation thus sets all the bits of each inactive byte of the conligured operand `to ONES where the active sign ofthe modified operand indicates that the active word portion is negative so that arithmetic `operatiotns involving carry propagation may be properly carried ou A more detailed logical block diagram of a portion of the Configuration Gates and the error checking circuitry associated therewith is shown in FIG. 5. In that ligure there are shown the six data ilip-liops 90-1, 6 together with the associated parity ip-op 90-P in the Exchange Register byte (l and the Hip-ops 91-1, 6 and the parity llip-flop 91-P, of the Exchange Register byte 1. Also shown in FIG. 5 are the Configuration Gates associated with bytes l) and l. The reference numerals applied to these gates also corresponds to the reference oil (ill

numeral scheme applied to the circuitry shown in FIG. 4, with the addition oi an additional numeral to differentiate the individual bit elements. Thus the Configuration Gates sampled by bit l of byte (I are numbered 64-101, 64-201, (i4-301 and 64-401.

The byte ll data values applied over lines 80 sample the Configuration Gales and are simultaneously applied to the Exchange Register iiip-llops 90. The gates are conditioned by levels from the Displacement control ipliops 100, 102, 104, 106. It will be noted that output levels from the Displacement control lip-l'lop 100 when it is set are applied from the ZERO side through inverters 230, 232, 234, 236 to condition the 64-1l gate (byte l). The other flip-flops 102, 104, 106 similarly condition their associated gates. it will be understood that throughout this circuitry other circuit arrangements may be utilized. lor example, if suflicicnt driving capability is provided by the i'lip-ilop a single level could be utilized to drive or condition all twelve gates and, alternatively', a suitable inverter having a double output could bc used on the ZERO side of the tiip-tlop to condition both sets of associated gates.

The checking circuitry associated with this portion of the Configuration Control is shown in the upper portion ol' FIG. 5. Similar error check circuitry is associated with bytes 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 7. In this checking circuitry the gate conditioning levels are applied as imputs to parity (P) circuits 240, 242 of the type disclosed in the copending application S.N. 784,281 (IBM 1313049) tiled in the name of J. J. Moyer on Dec. 3l, 1958, entitled Switching Circuit. As may be seen from the disclosure of that application the circuit comprises a group of logic components arranged to rapidly generate a parity indication for three input values. Normally each fliptiop will apply one conditioning level to the parity circuit and thc logic therein will condition two gates to pass a single appropriate indication, However if less than two conditioning levels are present no gate is conditioned and if more than two are present all four gates are conditioned. Taking advantage of this fact these circuits are utilized herein to check the presence of two conditioning levels from one ilip-ilop and the absence of conditioning levels from the other three flip-flops. Both conditioning levels supplied by the Displacement Control tlip-liop 100 are applied as inputs to P circuit 240. The other two inputs of the parity circuit 240 are connected to the output leads from Displacement Control flip-flop 102i. 1n like manner Displacement Control ipllops 104 and 106 are connected to parity circuit 242. The output leads from the Displacement Control flipflops are also applied to NOT AND circuits 244, 246 which have outputs conditioning gates 248, 250 respectively.

After a command has been issued to set up the displacement ilip flops an error checking pulse on line 252 sample gates 248, 250 an also is passed to sample corresponding gates in the other byte error checking circuitries.

As one and only one of the Displacement Control ilip-tlops 100, 102, 104 and 106 in each group of two bytes should be set two of the cleared llip-ilops will condition one of the NOT AND circuits 244, 246 and it will have an output that conditions one of the gates 248, 250. The gate that is conditioned will pass the error check pulse to sample the parity circuit that is conditioned by levels from the other two flip-flops, one of which should be supplying two conditioning levels. If the sampled parity circuit is properly conditioned a ilip-llop 258, 260 in the check register will be set. However, if the circuit has more than two of its inputs conditioned an alarm will be generated on the associated line 256 while if less than two inputs are conditioned no outputs will be produced. The outputs of the check flip-flops 255, 26) are applied to a parity circuit of the same type as parity circuits 240, 252 and the set of parity circuits associated with the check register are subsequently sampled to insure that one and only one of the tiip-ops in each group of the two bytes is set. Each parity check circuit 262 should indicate that one of the associated check ip-ops is set and the other is not. An output signal on line 264 will immediately indicate an error while the output signal on line 266 is applied to the next parity circuit to check the status of the Configuration Gates and control circuitries associated therewith. As the check register is used for other purposes the line 264 is normally also connected to the next parity circuit. However this output is gated in order to more quickly pin point the source of an error.

When the word is transferred into the Exchange Register the parity of the transferred word is checked against the two half word parities that are transferred therewith and simultaneously the parities of the individual bytes are generated, The generated byte parities are then transferred over the same paths through the configuration matrix to the A Register, Byte parities thus established may be utilized with checking purposes as necessary within the Arithmetic Element.

The transfer and checking circuitrics associated with each single byte in the A Register is shown in FIG. o. The byte shown in byte which .includes Hip-flops 1443-71, 6 and l. A signal applied on line 253 clears the A Register flip-flops Mil-l, 6 and sets titi P; Displacement Cnntrol hip-flops 170 and 172 are associated with this byte and the output levels of NOT AND circuits isti and i condition the gates t2() and 130 respectively. if the associated Displacement Control flip-flop is set and if the activity flip-dop is cleared (indicating byte activity) the NOT AND circuit has an output which condition` the connected set of A Register input gates. The data hits` are transferred either through OR circuits titl (intiicatzd as a single block) or through OR circuits 11S-1, 6 and P. rthe ditta bits from OR circuits 150 are applied to gates while the data bits from OR circuits 115 are applied to gates 130. The outputs otl both gates are applied through OR circuits 270 to the complement inputs of the flip-flops (to enable certain logical functions required in some instructions to be performed). Associated with the outputs of the NOT AND circuits is checking circuitry which includes gates 274, 276, 27S. 2180, 282 and inverters 284 and 236. A check pulse applied on line 238 samples the gates 274 and 276 serially and an alarm signal is `passed if both of the NOT AND circuits have an output. The output levels from the` BOT AND circuits 15G, i60 then applied through inverters 284 and 256 rcspectively to condition gates 278 and 230 respectively. The check pulse on line 288 is passed through gate 282 which is conditioned by an activity indicating level from flip-fiop 139. Thus if the byte is active the check pnl-e is passed and if neither ofthe NOT AND circuits has an output the gates 278 and 230 which are sampled serially pass the pulse as an alarm signal. (If the byte is inactive and one ofthe NOT AND circuits has an output the error would be detected only 50% of the time via byte parity. This can be `checked by thc addition of two gates that are sampled in parallel by a check pulee gated by byte inactivity.) The accuracy of byte transfer is determined by checking the parity of each byte in the A Register'.` against the parity bit for that byte that was generated in the Exchange Register.

The Signed Data circuitry associated with byte 0 is also illustrated in FlG. 6. As indicated above when Signed Data operation is requested (instruction bit l5 is ONEl, a pulse serially samples the activity fliptiops 180-187. This pulse is applied on line 300 and samples gates 302 and 304. lf tne byte is inactive (the activity flip-flop being set tn the ONE state) gate 302 is conditioned and the pulse `is passed to sample tne two gates associated with the byte l activity' flip-tlop 181. However if the byte is active gate 304 is conditioned and the pulse is passed on line 306 to set the SDT flip-flop 190. The resuiting outlil put level conditions gate 200. The sign bit of the byte being transferred into the A Register byte t) in addition to being applied through OR circuit 270 to the flip-liep 14S-1 is also applied to sample gate 200 and if it is ONE (indicating that the sign of the byte is negative) the conditioned gate 25%? passes the pulse to sample gate 220 and the other corresponding gates 221%227. Wherever the byte is inactive the associated gate is conditioned :1nd the signal is passed to the ONE inputs of thc flip-hops of that byte to set them to the ONE states. (lt will be recalled that where the byte inactive the NOT AND circuits 150, will not provide conditioning levels to the input gates and therefore the flip-Hops in that byte initially remained in the cleared (ZERO) state.) rlihus this et`- fective complementing operation sets these flip-Flops in the inactive bytes to the ONE state so that the requisite carry propagation for arithmetic operations crm he correctly performed within the Arithmetic .lement.

ln certain instructions utilized in this computer system one or more bytes are extracted from a memory word and dilierent or modihed bytes are replaced in these positions during a single machine cycle. The bytes may be modified in the Accumulator before being restored in the original memory word or memory word bytes may he exchanged with accumulator bytes. When a byte is extracted from a memory word and displaced its destination is defined :is the active byte and to replace this byte in its orignal location requires n revision of the A and P modifiers. This revision can be thought of as a cycle left process So that the revised A moditier will activate byte locations corresponding to those byte locations extracted from the originiii memory word.

A logical block diagram of the A modifier circuitry utilized in this operation is shown in Fili. 7. ln that iigule there is indicated an A modifier flip-flop register Siti which includes flip-flops 350467 (and which forms a portion of instruction Register 32. in the Instruction Control element 30). This register is normally loaded with bits ltr-23 of the instruction word after those bits are transferred from first level (register 28) to second level (register 32) to control data manipulation operations in the arithmetic element. A command, generated shortly after the instruction is transferred from first level, is applied on line 362 to sample gates 364, transferring the A modier through` OR circuits 366 to the corresponding activity lip-tiops 180487 in the Arithmetic Element to set up those circuits in anticipation of the data transfer' into the Arithmetic Element. The P, M and T modicrs are decoded in the Instruction Control clement and command pulses are gated to set the byte displacement. liptions |00. 182, 104, 106, 170, 172. 17d, 176 and the SOT flip-flops 3.90497 in accordance with those indications during this sa. ie time interval.

After the data word has been loaded into the Exchange Registers 52 and configured into the A Registers 54 the requisite data manipulations specified by the instruction are performed. (Suitable apparatus for performing typical data manipulations is disclosed in detail, for example, in the aforementioned Ross patent, No. 2,914,248, and in the copcnding application, S.N. 612,265, entitled Data Processing Machine filed in the name of M. M. Astrahan et al. on Sept. 26, 1956.) However, if there is to be an extraction or other modification of the data word so that one or more bytes are reloaded into the data word during the instruction, the settings of the activity and displacement control flip-flops must be revised. The activity flip-flops -137 are initially all reset to the ONE state by a command pulse applied on line 36S after the data word has been configured and loaded into the A Register. The settings of the ZERO and FOUR displacement flipflops 170, 172, 174 and 176 are transferred through gates 370, 372, 374, 376 to the Revise flip-tiops 330, 382, 384, 386 in response to a command pulse on line 388 so that the original displacement factor is retained and then the ip-tiops 170, 172, 174 and 176 are cleared to prevent signals from entering the A Register during the byte activity revision process. (The SDT flip-flops 190-197 are also cleared.) The ZERO output levels from flipdiops 380, 382, 384, 386 condition the sets of gates 390-397 and 40G-407 which are sampled by pulses passed from the auxiliary OR circuits Htl-417. These OR circuits are connected to the byte parity portion of the normal configuration gates 64 (the byte parity portion of the gates associated with byte ZERO being designated as 64-101, etc.) as these gates are the lightest loaded configuration gates in the system. The outputs of these gates are connected to OR circuit 410 and are arranged to provide effectively a cycle left displacement of the signals that are passed by those gates. A command is applied on line 420 to the gates 422 which are conditioned by ZERO outputs from the A modifier register 348 to apply the A modifier signals to the byte parity configuration gatcs portions as originally conditioned by first level displacement control llipdlops 19t), 102, 104, 106 t'or application to the OR circuits 410. The conditioning levels for gates 390, 400 provided by flip-flops 330, 382, 384, 386 supply the requisite second level displacement control and chunnel the revised A modifier indication to the activity flipfiops 180487 through OR circuits 366 in the cycle lett operation. For example, if bytes 3 and 7 were active and original displacement was 2, after A modifier revision flip-flops 181 and 185 would be cleared indicating that bytes 1 and 5 are now active. These are the bytes of the original data word that were configured into A Register bytes 3 and 7.

The P modifier (bits 9-11 of the instruction) is loaded into a register in the Instruction Control clement 30 which has a decoder 43!) associated therewith as shown in FIG. 8. A first set of gates 432 associated with the decoder in response to a command pulse on line 434 transfers a decoded output over one of the lines in cable 436 to effect the requisite normal setting of the displacement control hip-flops. A second set of gates 438 associated with the decoder provides the displacement revision signal which revises the setting of the displacement control flip-flops in response to a pulse on line 440. This revision is to the Ns complement value of the original P modifier Where N is the radix in which the information is encoded. Thus in the instant case the revised P modifier is the 2s complement value of the original P modifier. For example, with this three bit value, if the original displacement was ZERO the revised displacement would also be ZERO; if the original displacement was ONE the revised displacement would be SEVEN, etc. A command pulse on line 442 causes the displacement flip-flops to be set to ZERO displacement.

Examples of instructions which utilize this configuration and revision circuitry are the Add One (AOR) instruction and the Add to Register (ATR) instruction. The AOR instruction is used to add a value of ONE to specified locations in either or both halves of a data word, depending ori the mode selected. For example, two bytes may be incremented at the same time. After the selected portion( s) of the data word has been incremented the incremented portion is returned to the same position in the data Word. That is, if byte 1 was specified by the iiistruction to be incremented it would be placed in either byte 3 or byte 7 (since the addition may take place at only bit 23 and/or 47 of the Adder 60). The value ONE previously placed in the Accumulator 56 is added to it, and the modied byte is then returned to the byte 1 position. In similar manner any value placed in the Accumulator may be added to a specified byte or bytes and those modified bytes returned to their original locations by the ATR instruction. These instructions thus must make a dual reference to the A and P modifiers since it is necessary to store the byte back into the byte position from which it was obtained before modications and thc operation is accomplished by the above described automatic revision of the A and l modifiers during the instruction.

Li l) As an example ofthe AOR instruction assume that the A modifier is lllOllll (357), the P modifier equals 2, the M modifier equals l (left half only) and the T modifier is 0 (inactive). As a result of the instruction the data word would be loaded into the Exchange Register and simultaneously byte l of the data word would be cycled to byte 3 of the A Register through the Configuration circuitry. All the other bytes of the A Register are inactive. The value ONE has been placed in bit 23 of the otherwise cleared Accumulator and the quantity in the A Register is added to the contents of the Accumulator to produce the modified byte. While this is being accomplished the A and l modifiers are revised and the data word (without byte 0) is transferred into the A Register with 'zero displacement, The modified byte is then transferred from byte 3 of the Accumulator to the Exchange Register and simultaneously configured into byte l of the A Register. Thus :i byte has been extracted, configured, modified and renserted in the data word in its original location by a single instruction. Other instructions provided in the computer utilize this circuitry in related manners for simiiar operations.

The following table indicates the timing of the several commands that are generated to accomplish this data manipulation in the AOR instruction. The timing is referenced to time pulses 0-l5 or specific time pulses delayed by a stated number of millimicroseconds 9-i-50 (Incaning Time Pulse 9 deiayed (plus) 50 niiiliinicroseconds). The Memory cycles commence with TP while machine cyces commence with TF6 (after the word has been transferred from Memory). (Certain commands which relate to the execution of thc instruction decoding, indexing and data manipulations and those commands which accom- `plish the checking operations in the computer system have been omitted from this listing, additional information relative to such computer control being obtainable from the abovcmentioncd copending patent application and patent references if desired.

Foiunuuitl Time iv Function ist level 2nd level t). n Initiate -Instructioiifiii cycle. Lieto Instruction in operations :uid address iiiotliliciition.

Initiate dativin cyr-lc.

liiit te lst to 2nd level transfer,

f l ns r A iiiotlitier to A iuivl'iticr register, Sense l iut r to set Ilisiilat-inient-control .F s. Sense l\l :1nd modifiers to srt` MYV-control l=`l"'s.

Sense l\l iiiodiltur to set Molle-control liFs.

t Transfer ot iliitii to Exchange Register :uid A Register.

.luier i0 iiiiiiil. sei. net-isf;

r A iiiodit'icr to A modifier regisirougli the revise displacement 'it meunier re clair lavis@ j+4 FF Settlisplzlecnientlt).

M ,t Transfer Exchange I'ltgister t0 A Rcgister.

l:`i t i Sense l iiioditur revise gutis to sot,

l)islilaniment-controi r`l"`s.

auge Register,

LA et t Train r .icri|itu|lutor to Exchange 1, ter :uid .t Register, l

The command pulses which at'lcct this revision are` indipulse 3),

13 it should be understood that these control flip-flops may be set by raw commands or by other modicrs, for example, if such operation is desired.

A clear by byte" operation is enabled with this circuitry by establishing a desired activity condition and then sensing gates on the ZERO sides of the activity ipops 180-187. Each conditioned gate passes a pulse that clears the flip-hops of the associated byte in the A Register, This operation is checked by applying the clearing pulses to the displacement check register (Hip-hops 258, 260 etc.) where parity is counted and matched against the parity indicated by the A modifier parity llipfiop which indicates the parity of the established activity condition. A control flip-Hop is utilized to determine whether the parity check in this register is `a displacement check or a clear by byte check.

As indicated above, conguration control may invalidate the half word parity assigned to the memory word as loaded into the Exchange Register and therefore individual parity bits are generated for each byte in the Exchange Register and then sent through the Configuration Gates over the same path to the A Register. The byte parity of the configuration in the A Register is then checked and new half word parties are established from that information.

The error check operation on the Sign Data Tag operation checks the setting of SDT tlip-llops 199-197. In full mode, left mode and right mode operations one and only one SDT hip-hop should be set while in dual inode and twin mode operations two SDT flip-Hops (one for each half word) should be set. When the SDT modier (instruction bit l5) is ONE it is assumed that there is at least one active byte per operative word portion. A logical block diagram of the SDI error check circuitry is shown in FIG. 9. The SDT sampling pulse samples gates 302, 304 as indicated above and it byte activity is indicated a pulse is passed through an OR circuit .'l to set SDT activity control tlip-tlop 312.. The ilip-liops illustrated in FIG. 9 are associated with the right halt A Register word (bytes 4 7). If thc mode is right half Word mode, dual or twin, the SDT sampling pulse is applied on line 314 through OR circuit 316 to sample gates 302, 304. However if full mode operation is specified the full mode tlip-ilop 31S is set conditioning gate 320 and the serial SDT sampling pulse applied on line 3% is applied through gate 320 if there are no active bytes in the left half word A register word to OR circuit 316. The outputs of the SDT flip-hops 19d-197 are applied to a chain of parity circuits 322 and a parity check is run on the contents of these liip-ops. A check pulse is applied on line 324 in right, dual and twin mode operation to the parity circuits 322. The parity chain output samples the SDT control Hip-flop 312 via gates 326 and 32S. The odd output of the parity chain indicating an odd number of SDT flip-hops are set, samples thc EFRO side of control flip-flop 312 and the "even" output samples the ONE side. It there was SDT activity gate 32S will be conditioned and should a pulse emanate from the parity chain on the Even line a signal will be passed through OR circuit 330 to generate an alarm. Similarly an ODD output of the parity chain indicates that one flip-flop was set and if gate 326 is conditioned an alarm is generated because there was no SDT activity. On full mode operation a pulse serially samples both the left and right control ip-flops 312 via mode control gate 332 and gate 334. 1f both control Hip-flops are set the pulse is passed to OR circuit 33t] to generate an alarm as only one half Word should contain an active Signed Data tag bit in full mode operation.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a high speed data configuration system in which data is retained in a first register in thc form that it was transferred while being configured into a second register on a byte basis with selected bytes thereof rendered inactive in accordance with instruction tag information. The transfer of CII iii

data to the second register is controlled by a two level conguration system which enables exible cycling of data and versatility in data extraction and similar manipulations. The second level of configuration utilizes input gates which are capable of being selectively conditioned so that versatile twinning operations may be performed and byte activity is easily controlled. In addition the circuitry includes provision for correcting the indication of the inactive bytes so that arithmetic operations involvcd signed data may he accurately performed. Thus the invention provides a flexible data manipulating system which nds particular use in arithmetic elements of large digital computers. Due to the diiculty in reconstructing erroneously congured data at a later time coniprehensive error check circuitry is also associated with the manipulation circuitry. It will be seen by those having ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced in various manners and with a variety of circuit arrangements. Therefore while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited thereto or to details thereof and departures may be made therefrom wifhin the spirit and scope of the invention as defined` in the claims.

We claim:

1. In a data processing machine data manipulation apparatus comprising rst and second registers, cach said register including a like number of corresponding multidigit sections, means providing transmission paths between each section of said rst register and all the sections of said second register, gating means associated with each said transmission path, means to selectively energize said gating means to permit transmission of multidigit portions of a data word from said first register to said second register so that the transmitted multidigit portions are correspondingly cycled relative to their location in said first register and loaded into said second register in cycled relationship, and means for selectively inhibiting entry of a multi-digit portion of the transmitted data word into a section of said second register.

2. In a data processing machine, data manipulation apparatus comprising data Word storage means having a plurality of multidigit sections, data entry gate means associated with each said section for controlling entry of data into the section, a plurality of transmission paths connected to the entry gate means associated with each sait section, first selection means for selecting a set of transmission paths so data portions may be correspondingly cycled for application to said storage sections, and entry gate selection means operative in conjunction with said first selection means to inhibit entry of a data portion in the associated sections.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said entry gate means includes rst and second gates associated with each section and said entry gate selection means is adapted normally to select only said first gates or said second gates, and further including means to operate said entry gate selection means to select rst gates associated with certain sections and second gates associated with the other sections to provide duplicate entry of data into sections of said storage means.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said storage means is divided into two halves, and said entry gate selection means includes two bistable devices associated with each half, an activity controlling device associated with each section, and a coincidence circuit associated with each section, each gate being conditioned to pass data for entry into said` storage means when an enabling input is applied to the associated coincidence circuit from an associated activity controlling device and from one of said bistable devices, and means to set one bistable device associated with each storage means half to provide enabling inputs tor the associated coincidence circuits, said activity controlling devices being set in accordance with said section activity information.

5. In a data processing machine, a data word storage register adapted to store binary coded signals representative of data, said register having a plurality of multibit sections, a set of configuration gates corresponding to each section adapted to enable the selective cycling of multibit groups of data for entry into said register', entry gates for controlling entry of data into said register, a data transfer path between each configuration gate and said register via an entry gate, means to select corresponding configuration gates in all of said sets to cycle data in accordance with a predetermined data displacement factor, and selection means adapted to selectively condition said entry gates to enable entry of the data cycled by said configuration gates into said register.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said entry gates include first and second gates associated with each section, said register is divided into two halves, and said entry gate selection means includes two bistable devices associated with cach half, an activity controlling device associated with each section, and a coincidence circuit associated with each gate, each gate being conditioned to pass data for entry into said register when an enabling input is applied to the associated coincidence circuit from an associated activity controlling device and from one of said bistable devices, and means to set one bistable device associated with each register half to provide enabling inputs for the associated coincidence circuits for conditioning selected ones of said. gates to enable entry of said data into said register.

7. In a data processing machine operable in accordance with a stored program of instructions, an arithmetic element adapted to process data words in accordance with said instructions, each said data word being divided into a plurality of multi-bit sections, a data word register in said arithmetic element, means responsive to an instruction to transfer a data word to said arithmetic element for loading into said register, first means responsive to tag information associated with said instruc tion operative selectively to cycle said data word as a unit relative to its original position and to load said cycled data Word into said register for processing in said arithmetic element, and second means responsive to tag information associated with said instruction operative to inhibit transfer of a section of said cycled data word to a selected location in said register.

S. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said arithmetic element is adapted to process data in accordand further including third means responsive to instruction tag information operative to adiust the data values in those register locations to which data transfer was inhibited.

9. In a data processing machine operable in accord ance with a stored program of instructions, an arithmetic clement adapted to process data words in accordance with said instructions, each said data word being divided into a plurality of sections, each said section having an equal number of bits in it, a data word register in said arithmetic element, means responsive to an instruction to transfer a data word to said arithmetic element for loading into said register, and first means responsive to tag information associated with said instruction operative to inhibit transfer of a section of said data word to .a selected location in said register for processing in said arithmetic element.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said arithmetic element is adapted to process data in accordance with sign information associated with the data words and further including second means responsive to instrucA tion tag information operative to adjust the data values in those register locations to which data transfer was inhibited.

11. In a data processing machine operable in accord-- ance with sign information associated with the data words ance with a stored program of instructions, apparatus for manipulating data words in response to a single instruction, each data word being arranged in .'1 plurality of rnultibit bytes, comprising means for storing an instruction having a first portion specifying the data manipulation to be performed, a second portion specifying the data word to be manipulated, and at least one tag information portion, a register adapted to receive the data word to be manipulated in accordance with the instruction, gating control means corresponding to each byte connected to the input of said register for controlling the transfer of data to said register, means to apply the data specified by said second portion to said gating control means, means operative in response to an instruction tag information portion to actuate each said gating control means to selectively cycle said bytes such that they may `be displaced relative to their arrangement as presented to said gating control means for loading into said register.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said gating control means includes first and second sets of control means associated with each byte, said first and second sets being arranged serially to pass the presented data bytes to byte portions ot' said register, said first set being arranged to enable a first selective displacement of said bytes and said second set being arranged to enable a .second displacement of a magnilude greater than the maximum enabled by said first set.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim l2 and further including byte activity controlling means associated with each register byte, said byte activitf.I controlling means being adapted selectively to control operation of the second set of control means of the corresponding byte to inhibit operation thereof in response to a tag informav tion portion to prevent transfer of a data byte to the associated byte section of said register.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said second level ot control means includes two sets of gating means, and further including means responsive to a tag information portion to normally select one set of said gating means, and alternatively operative means to Select portions of both of said sets of gating means to enable twinning entry of data into said register.

l5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11 and further including byte activity controlling means responsive to a second portion of instruction tag information associated with each register byte, said byte activity controlling means being adapted selectively to control operation of aid corresponding byte and gating control means lo inhibit transfer of data bytes to the associated byte section of said register.

iti. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein said data processing machine is adapted to process data in accordance with sign information associated with said data words and further including means operative in response to a third portion of instruction tag information to sense the significant sign digit of the bytes tranSfelred to said register and to adjust the values in the register bytes to which data transfer was inhibited by said byte activity controlling means according to the value of said sensed sign digit.

17. ln a data processing machine operable in accordance with a stored program of instructions, apparatus for manipulating data words in response to a single instruction, each data word being arranged in a plurality of multibit bytes, comprising means for storing an instruction having a first portion specifying the data manipulation to be performed, a second portion specifying the data word to be manipulated, and at least one tag information portion, a register adapted to receive the data word to be manipulated in accordance with the instruction, byte activity gating control means corresponding to each byte connected to the input of said register for controlling the transfer of data to said register, means to apply the data specified by said second portion to said gating control means, means operative in response to an 

1. IN A DATA PROCESSING MACHINE DATA MANIPULATION APPARATUS COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND REGISTERS, EACH SAID REGISTER INCLUDING A LIKE NUMBER OF CORRESPONDING MULTIDIGIT SECTIONS, MEANS PROVIDING TRANSMISSION PATHS BETWEEN EACH SECTION OF SAID FIRST REGISTERR AND ALL THE SECTIONS OF SAID SECOND REGISTER, GATING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH SAID TRANSMISSION PATH, MEANS TO SELECTIVELY ENERGIZE SAID GATING MEANS TO PERMIT TRANSMISSION OF MULTIDIGIT PORTIONS OF A DATA WORD FROM SAID FIRST REGISTER TO SAID SECOND REGISTER SO THAT THE TRANSMITTED MULTIDIGIT PORTIONS ARE CORRESPONDINGLY CYCLED RELATIVE TO THEIR LOCATION IN SAID FIRST REGISTE AND LOADED INTO SAID SECOND REGISTER IN CYCLED RELATIONSHIP, AND MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY INHIBITING ENTRY OF A MULTI-DIGIT PORTION OF THE TRANSMITTED DATA WORD INTO A SECTION OF SAID SECOND REGISTER. 